Sunday, May 25, 2008

The following is the patent abstract for the classic mechanical toy known as Mr. Machine. The full patent has several drawings and a lot of descriptive text.Patent No.: 3,050,900Category: TOYInventors: Marvin L Glass and Leonid KripakDate Filed: Dec. 28, 1959, Ser. No. 862,208

This invention relates generally to, and has for its principal object, an animated toy. More particularly, the invention relates to, and has for a further object, a mobile toy including a construction and arrangement of the parts which can be readily assembled and disassembled, which resembles a mechanical man incorporating various interest attracting features, and which are generally fabricated of translucent, differently colored plastic materials so that a fascinating mechanical, multicolored activity is observed during operation of the top.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a toy of the type described which is of inexpensive construction, which has educational value in developing the mechanical skill of a child through assembly, disassembly and operation of the toy, and which will attract and maintain the attention of children over an extended period of time.I guess patents are not intended to sound fun. But Mr. Machine is fun! So, I'll leave it to the marketing copyrighters to convince you...

I think Mr. Machine may have been a transitional part of my life. I was 6 years old when it came out in 1960. I loved Mr. Machine and would take it apart and put it back together behind my back. I think it gave me an appreciation of how things work. As I grew up I took apart and analyzed everything I could get my hands on. Now, so many years later I am an aerospace engineer with a number of patents. I really think it was Mr. Machine that started me off.